MUMBAI: Flat-buyers in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) who had registered their properties between May and September of 2017 will have to pay additional stamp duty charges.

Stamp duty in the MMR— the region comprises Mumbai city, its suburbs, Thane, Palghar and Raigad—is 2.5% of the ready reckoner rates (RRR). This addtional recovery will add Rs 10 crore to the state exchequer.

The RRR is an annual statement of rates on which the stamps and registration department collects the stamp duty.

On Tuesday, the state cabinet approved a proposal to recover the difference in the stamp duty fee charged between these five months and thereafter.

A senior official from the department said, “During those five months, the stamp duty was being charged according to the ready reckoner rates of 2016. After the cabinet approval, flat-buyers will have pay the difference as per the ready reckoner rates of the year 2017.”

The state government had temporarily stayed increasing the RRR following pressure from developers.

However, the ready reckoner rates were finally hiked in September.

Now, the revenue department wants to recover the difference, although it won’t get interest on the amount, said government officials.

A cabinet sub-committee formed under revenue minister Chandrakant Patil and state housing minister Prakash Mehta submitted its report on the additional stamp duty issue on Tuesday.

The housing department was against the retrospective recovery of charges, saying that it will impact home buyers as GST had already caused a slump in the real estate market.

The revenue department was firm on not losing the revenue though.

Revenue department officials said they will start issuing notices after a government resolution affecting this change is issued.